Method, system and facility for controlling resource allocation within a manufacturing environment

ABSTRACT

In accordance with teachings of the present disclosure, a method, system and facility are described for controlling resource allocation within a build to order manufacturing environment. A system for providing a control center for a manufacturing facility is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of information sources operably associated with manufacturing products within the manufacturing facility. A user interface of the system displays selective information associated with portions of the manufacturing facility within a control center operable to manage production within the manufacturing facility. The system further includes a resource allocator operably coupled to the control center and the plurality of information sources and the resource allocator is operable to monitor work in process within the manufacturing facility.

Related Applications

[0001] This application is related to copending application Ser. No.09/______filed Mar. 5, 2001 entitled Method and System for SimulatingProduction Within a Manufacturing Environment filed by Branden ClarkBickley et al.; and copending application Ser. No. 09/______filed Mar.5, 2001 entitled Method, System and Facility for Monitoring ResourcesWithin a Manufacturing Environment filed by Branden Clark Bickley.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to manufacturing and,more particular to a method, system and facility for controllingresource allocation within a manufacturing environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0003] Many years ago, manufacturers learned that, when buildingsufficiently large quantities of identical products, assembly linescould be used to increase the rate of production and decrease theper-unit production costs. In an assembly line, the assembly process isdivided in a series of processing steps through which thework-in-process moves to result in the end product. These steps may beoptimized, and once the manufacturing system becomes operational it willbuild a number of products with the same configuration using theoptimized steps.

[0004] Assembly lines are typically used in a build-to-stock productionmodel, where large quantities of identical products are manufactured inanticipation of forecasted demand. The manufactured products are thenwarehoused until that demand is realized. Build-to-stock manufacturingsystems are therefore primarily suited to markets in which manufacturerscan accurately predict customer demand.

[0005] In many markets, however, predicting customer demand is risky, atbest. For example, in the market for computer systems and related items,technological improvements are realized so frequently and componentprices change so rapidly that it is difficult to accurately predict howlarge the market for any particular product will ultimately be. As aresult, when manufacturers in industries like information technologyutilize the build-to-stock model, those manufacturers frequently findthemselves with stocks of manufactured goods that are difficult orimpossible to market at a profit (i.e., with stale inventory).

[0006] A contrasting model of production that helps manufacturers avoidthe stale-inventory problem is the build-to-order model. According tothe build-to-order model, each product is assembled only after acustomer has ordered that particular product. One of the disadvantagestraditionally associated with the build-to-order model, however, is thatmore time is required to fill orders, in that products must bemanufactured, not simply taken from stock. Another disadvantage is thatbuild-to-order manufacturing systems are typically less efficient thanbuild-to-stock manufacturing systems, which drives up the cost ofproducts that are built to order. Accordingly, build-to-order systemshave typically been utilized in markets for luxury items, such astailored clothing, and markets in which a paucity of manufacturersleaves consumers with little choice but to bear the high prices anddelays that are generally passed down by build-to-order manufacturers.

[0007] Some manufacturers have attempted to minimize the delaysassociated with the build-to-order model by maintaining a significantinventory of the materials required for production (e.g., the componentsthat are assembled to create the finished goods). Simply carrying suchan inventory, however, imposes costs on manufacturers, including thecosts associated with warehousing the material. Furthermore, in marketswhere product innovations occur rapidly, such material oftentimes becomestale.

[0008] For example, in contemporary times, the market for computersystems (including, without limitation, mini-computers, mainframecomputers, personal computers, servers, work stations, portables, handheld systems, and other data processing systems) has been marked by highand increasing rates of product innovation. Further, to manufacture, forexample, a typical personal computer, many different components arerequired, including a processor, memory, additional data storage (suchas a hard disk drive), a number of peripheral devices that provide inputand output (I/O) for the system, and adapter cards (such as video orsound cards) for communicating with the peripheral devices. Each ofthose components is also typically available in many differentvariations. In such markets, even if using the build-to-order model,manufacturers risk significant losses when carrying significantinventories of material.

[0009] Also, it is difficult to optimize build-to-order manufacturingfacilities in terms of labor requirements and space requirements, assuch facilities must be able to produce of a wide variety of products.However, in markets where many manufacturers are competing forcustomers, such as the computer system market, any reduction inproduction costs that does not decrease product quality is an importantimprovement.

[0010] Among the cost-saving measures that a producer may employ is tofollow the direct-ship model, in which the manufacturer avoids middlemensuch as distributors and retailers by accepting orders directly from andshipping products directly to customers. However, additional costs areborne by a manufacture that provides a direct-ship option, in that themanufacture must provide distribution facilities, in addition toproviding the manufacturing facilities.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0011] In accordance with teachings of the present disclosure, a method,system and facility are described for controlling resource allocationwithin a manufacturing environment. According to one aspect, amanufacturing facility employing dynamic allocation of resources forassembling and shipping computer based systems is disclosed. Thefacility includes a centralized information system communicativelycoupled with selective portions of the manufacturing facility andoperable to aggregate information associated with manufacturing computersystems. The facility further includes a work in process (WIP) profileassociated with the selective portions of the facility and operable toprovide information in substantially real-time to the centralizedinformation system. The facility further includes at least one userinterface displayed within a control center of the manufacturingfacility and operable to enable allocation of resources within theselective portions of the manufacturing facility.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a systemfor providing a control center for a manufacturing facility isdisclosed. The system includes a plurality of information sourcesoperably associated with manufacturing products within the manufacturingfacility. A user interface of the system displays selective informationassociated with portions of the manufacturing facility within a controlcenter operable to manage production within the manufacturing facility.The system further includes a resource allocator operably coupled to thecontrol center and the plurality of information sources and the resourceallocator is operable to monitor work in process within themanufacturing facility.

[0013] According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a methodfor controlling allocation of resources within a manufacturing facilityis disclosed. The method includes determining a WIP profile associatedwith one or more areas within the manufacturing facility and accessingone or more databases to provide an aggregated information source to bedisplayed within a user interface of a control center. The methodfurther includes determining available capacity based on shipping andscheduling information for the manufacturing facility and identifying anorder release criteria limiting shipment of an order, the limitingassociated with the WIP profile.

[0014] The present disclosure relates to a manufacturing facility thatprovides build-to-order products and direct shipment of products tocustomers. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to amanufacturing facility that is constructed and operated in such a manneras to enjoy numerous benefits, relative to prior art manufacturingfacilities, including the benefit of reduced production costs. Inaddition, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods that maybe utilized to advantage in a distribution facility, independent of themanufacturing process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments andadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

[0016]FIG. 1 illustrates a manufacturing facility in accordance withteachings of the present disclosure;

[0017]FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed layout of a manufacturing facilityin accordance with teachings of the present disclosure;

[0018]FIG. 3 illustrates a centralized information system for use with amanufacturing facility in accordance with teachings of the presentdisclosure;

[0019]FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for managingresources within a manufacturing facility;

[0020]FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for allocatingresources using a remote monitor and simulator in accordance withteachings of the present disclosure; and

[0021]FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for pulling productthrough a manufacturing facility based on capacity availability of acarrier and WIP profiles of the manufacturing facility in accordancewith teachings of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0022] Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood byreference to FIGS. 1 through 6, wherein like numbers are used toindicate like and corresponding parts. Referring to FIG. 1, there isdepicted an exemplary manufacturing facility 100 according to thepresent disclosure. In the illustrative embodiment, manufacturingfacility 100 is used to manufacture computers, which are shippeddirectly to customers, along with associated articles (such as monitors,speakers, printers, etc). Manufacturing facility 100 is operatedaccording to a new process and includes significant architecturalenhancements, new hardware, and new control logic that providesincreased quality and efficiency.

[0023] During production, the manufacturer receives one or more customerorders from a business unit and orders components from suppliers neededto manufacture the products for those orders and articles and packaging(such as boxes and protective inserts) needed to fill the orders.Preferably, to minimize the inventory carried in manufacturing facility100, few if any components, articles, and packaging will be left overfrom previous production runs. Therefore, at the beginning of eachproduction run, most or all of components 103, articles 112, andpackages 111 for the orders in that run will be ordered from suppliers.Production runs may nevertheless overlap to some degree, in that themanufacturer need not IL wait until the last item for one run is shippedbefore ordering components for the next production run from suppliers.

[0024] Manufacturing facility 100 receives ordered components 103,articles 112, and packages 111 via assembly unit 101 in one region and ashipping unit 106 in another region (illustrated near the upper end ofFIG. 1). Product components 103 are received in assembly unit 101 viadocks in a first portion of the left wall of manufacturing facility 100.By contrast, packages 111 for assembled products enter assembly unit 101through the lower portion of the right wall of manufacturing facility100.

[0025] Manufacturing facility 100 may also receive products (e.g.,computers) that were assembled at other facilities and delivered tomanufacturing facility 100 to fill an order. Preferably, externalproducts 113 are received into shipping unit 106, via docks in thesecond portion of left wall of left of manufacturing facility 100 as areordered articles 112. Preferably, however, the receiving docks (notexpressly shown) for ordered articles 112 are disposed between the docksfor external products 113 and the docks for components 103, and articles112 are temporarily stored in an article-staging area 107 at the loweredge of shipping unit 106 near assembly unit 101.

[0026] Once sufficient components 103 have been received, assembly unit101 begins assembling components 103 into computers systems.Specifically, components 103 are kitted in a kitting facility 102, andthe component kits are transported to a build facility 104 for assemblyand configuration. Once assembled and configured, each product such as acomputer system is transported to a boxing facility 105, where theproduct is packaged and a tracking label is applied to the packagedproduct. The finished products are then transported to shipping unit 106via transport 116.

[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 1, each area within manufacturing facility100 includes a Work-in-Process (“WIP”) profile for identifying thevolume and throughput of product within a specific area of manufacturingfacility 100. For example, kitting facility 102 includes an associatedkitting WIP profile 102 a; build facility 104 includes an associatedbuild facility WIP profile 104 a; boxing or packaging facility 105includes an associated boxing or packaging facility WIP profile 105 a.In a similar manner, each area within shipping unit 106 includesassociated WIP profiles. Manufacturing facility 100 further includesassociated monitoring and control hardware and software for accessing,controlling and communicating WIP profiles within each area ofmanufacturing facility 100. For example, as product or units transportedthroughout manufacturing facility 100, each unit may be scanned into andout of each area using an optical scanner and bar code to identify whenproduct enters and/or leaves an area within manufacturing facility 100.A WIP profile for each area and associated logs, databases, etc. may beautomatically updated for specific units as they progress throughmanufacturing facility 100. In this manner, a control center (notexpressly shown) may employ one or more software programs to access WIPprofiles for aggregating information related to manufacturing therebyallowing effecting management of resources within manufacturing facility100.

[0028] For example, shipping unit 106 utilizes a shipping system (i.e.,the equipment in shipping unit 106 and the related software) whichreceives each finished product from the assembly unit (as well asexternal products) and automatically determines whether thecorresponding order is fillable (i.e., whether all items in the order,including products and associated articles, are available for shipping).The shipping system also automatically determines whether each fillableorder is shippable (i.e., whether there is a suitable carrier vehicle orshipping container present with available capacity to receive the itemsin the order). These automatic determination are made with reference todatabases including WIP profiles that reflect the current state of theproduction environment. A control center may access the database ordatabases to identify which products are ready for shipment, whicharticles have been received, which carrier vehicles are present, and howmuch capacity those vehicles have available.

[0029] In the illustrative embodiment, shipping unit 106 includes areceiving scanner 117, which monitors a transport 116 that bringsproducts from assembly unit 101 into shipping unit 106. As each productpasses by receiving scanner 117, receiving scanner 117 reads a barcodeon that product's tracking label, updates one or more databases toreflect the detected location of the scanned product, and triggers theautomatic process for determining whether to release an order (i.e.,whether to transport the items in the order to outgoing docks).

[0030] If the shipping system determines that an order is not fillableor not shippable, the shipping system automatically stores the productsreceived for that order in automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS)108. When it is determined that an order is fillable and shippable, theshipping system automatically updates the status of the order in one ormore databases to flag the order as having been released andautomatically conveys the ordered items to a parcel unit 110 fortendering to parcel carriers (for small orders) or to anless-than-trailer-load (LTL) unit 109 to be loaded onto pallets and thentendered to LTL carriers (for larger orders), as described in greaterdetail below.

[0031] As illustrated, products flow out of the LTL unit 109 throughdocks in an upper portion of right wall of manufacturing facility 100and products flow out of parcel unit 110 through docks in the upper wallof manufacturing facility 100. Docks for outgoing items and l docks forincoming material are thus distributed along the perimeter of themanufacturing facility according to a particular pattern that providesfor increased material input and shipping output. Carriers face lesstraffic congestion when traveling to and positioning themselves atincoming and outgoing docks. A greater number of carrier vehicles cantherefore be accommodated at one time, compared to prior art facilities.This improvement helps make it possible for the manufacturer supportincreased production levels and to provide customers with products in atimely manner while utilizing the just-in-time approach to procuringmaterial. Further, the logistical advantages are provided with requiringan increase in the amount of space required to house manufacturingfacility 100. The positioning of the docks also minimizes the amount ofmaterial movement required within manufacturing facility 100 and, inconjunction with the internal layout, provides for a work flow that isconducive to rapid production and space efficiency.

[0032] When an order is released, if products for that order are storedin ASRS 108, the shipping system will preferably automatically dischargethose products from ASRS 108 (i.e., direct ASRS 108 to move the productsfrom internal storage to distribution conveyor 116). After the order isreleased, shipping labels are also applied to the ordered products.Specifically, products from ASRS 108 and products coming directly fromthe external product docks and directly from assembly unit 101 are alltransported through labeling stations (not expressly shown) for productson the way to LTL unit 109 or parcel unit 110. Moreover, the shippinglabels for the assembled products are printed and applied in an area ofmanufacturing facility 100 that is separate from the area in whichlabels are printed for and applied to articles. For example, productshipping-label printers may be located in a central region of shippingunit 106, while the article-labeling stations may be located in articlestaging area 107 of shipping unit 106, adjacent to assembly unit 101.

[0033] Referring now to FIG. 2, a detailed illustration of amanufacturing facility is shown. The manufacturing facility illustratedin FIG. 2 is similar to manufacturing facility 100 of FIG. 1 andincludes hardware and software for providing a control center forcontrolling allocation of resources within the manufacturing facility. Amanufacturing facility, illustrated generally at 200, includes anincoming articles area 201 for receiving articles, components, etc. forassembling computer systems. Incoming components are staged for assemblywithin one of a plurality of kitting units 202, 203, 204, and 205.Operators within each kitting unit place associated hardware within abin (not expressly shown) which is forwarded to a build facility 207 forassembling the components into computer systems. Product isautomatically transported to one of the production lines 206 a, 206 b,206 c, 206 d, via transport 206. Build facility 207 includes build area207 a, 207 b, 207 c, 207 d and are associated with each production line206 a, 206 b, 206 c, 206 d. Each build area includes four associatedwork cells providing operators facilities and equipment for assemblingcomputer systems using the components within each transported kit.

[0034] Each transport for an associated production line 206 a, 206 b,206 c, and 206 d is a multi-tiered transport system that includesseveral vertically displaced transport levels for transporting assemblykits to associated build cells within build facility 207. Each transportis distributively coupled to boxing facility 208 including plural boxingareas 208 a, 208 b, 208 c and 208 d for packaging assembled systems forshipping. Upon packaging the assembled products, each box ispreferreably transferred to shipping where associated items from SPAM(speaker, printer, advanced port replicators, monitors) unit 209 may bejoined via a transport system (not expressly shown). Within SPAM unit209, additional hardware such as speakers, printers, monitors, etc. areincluded with each packaged product.

[0035] Packaged products may be transported to either LTL unit 214,parcel shipping 217 or ASRS 211 depending on an order fill requirementor criteria for the associated produced product. For example, if anorder has been filled and is to be shipped via an available LTL carrier,the completed product will be forwarded to one of the pallet areas 215a, 215 b, 215 c, or 216 d for palletizing and subsequent shipping via anLTL carrier. In another embodiment, an order may be forwarded to parcelshipping area 217 for shipping orders to customers which may not requireLTL carrier type transportation of product.

[0036] ASRS 211 provides temporary storage for assembled products untilorders are filled for shipping and an order shipping criteria is met.ASRS 211 distributes products among several rows of shelves verticallydisplaced within ASRS 211 using first and second ASRS transports 212,213 and a handler displaced within each row of ASRS 211. Each handlerselectively places and removes packaged products within ASRS 211 basedon shipping criteria and/or order fulfillment criteria for eachstored/retrieved package. Each handler stores and retrieves packagesbased on the order fulfillment criteria and receives or places thepackages on ASRS transports 212 and 213 accordingly. The products arethen forwarded to LTL Unit 214 or parcel shipping 217 where the order isdelivered to an appropriate customer.

[0037] In one embodiment, one or more products may be transferred fromanother facility to fill an order. For example, a product may bereceived via incoming parcel 210 and transferred to one of the unitswithin manufacturing facility 200. Incoming parcel 210 may provide acompleted product which may be stored within ASRS 211 until an order iscomplete or used to fill an order for shipping directly to a customervia LTL unit 214. As such, a package received via incoming parcel 210may be automatically transferred to LTL unit 214, parcel shipping 217,or ASRS 211 based on an order fulfillment criteria for the completedproduct.

[0038] Similar to FIG. 1, each area within the manufacturing facility200 includes a work-in-process (WIP) profile for each area. For example,boxing facility 208 may include a volume of products in the process ofbeing boxed or staged to be boxed. Boxing facility includes a WIPprofile having a capacity and throughput level for each boxing area 208a, 208 b, 208 c, 208 d based on the number of products within andprocessed through each area. As such, a granular WIP profile may beacquired for each area within boxing facility 208.

[0039] In a preferred embodiment, real-time acquisition of WIP profilesadvantageously allow a control center for manufacturing facility 200with access to information relating to the dynamically changingenvironment within manufacturing facility 200. For example, one or morepieces of equipment within boxing facility 208 may malfunction duringoperation and may be inoperable for a undeterminable time period. Assuch, a WIP profile for boxing area 208 may be accessed to determine themaximum throughput of boxing facility 208, and resources within buildfacility 207 and kitting 206 may be reallocated without overburdeningboxing 208 and causing a bottleneck during production. In a similarmanner, if one or more pieces of equipment malfunction in boxing area208 a, the control center may automatically re-route product from buildfacility 202 to boxing area 208 b, 208 c and/or 208 d.

[0040] In one embodiment, WIP profiles for each area withinmanufacturing facility 200 may be used to pull product throughmanufacturing facility based on the availability of a carrier oravailable capacity for an incoming carrier. For example, an LTL carriermay schedule shipment of orders using the WIP profiles of productionareas within manufacturing facility 200. Such product may be pulledthrough appropriate areas based on the scheduled availability of thecarrier thereby increasing the overall flow of product through themanufacturing facility and subsequently to a carrier. In this manner,portions of an order may be stored throughout manufacturing facility 200until a carrier is available to transport the product to a customer,thereby increasing the relative throughput of products throughmanufacturing facility 200 while minimizing inventory of products.Additionally, resources may be dynamically allocated to fill the orderin real-time based on WIP profiles within manufacturing facility 200.

[0041]FIG. 3 illustrates a centralized information system forcontrolling allocation of resources within a manufacturing facility. Acontrol center, illustrated generally at 300, includes an informationsystem 301 that may include even more computer systems, servers,terminals, etc. communicatively coupled to one or more of business units302, an order management source 303, an outbound carrier(s) source 304,an inbound carrier(s) source 305, a first manufacturing facility 306and/or second manufacturing facility 318. Each manufacturing facilitymay include access to several production areas within each facility forproducing products such as computer systems. For example, firstmanufacturing facility 306 may include a kitting area 307, a build area308, a boxing area 309, an LTL area 310, an ASRS area 311, an incomingparcel area 312, a SPAM area 313, an outbound parcel 314, an incomingLTL carriers 315, outbound LTL carriers 316, and an articles area 317.

[0042] Control center 300 advantageously provides access to eachinformation source through aggregating selective information 323 andcommunicating the selective information via interface 324 to create oneor more sessions for efficiently managing production within amanufacturing facility. For example, a session A 319 may include a userinterface for monitoring WIP profiles within a manufacturing facilityand allocating resources based on WIP profiles for each area. Session B320 may be used to access information relating to production and dockdoor scheduling. Session C 321 may be used for identifying and trackingequipment errors for equipment within each part of the facility.Additionally, Session D 322 may include a user interface for identifyingand recovering from process errors that may occur within themanufacturing facility. Though illustrated as separate sessions, eachsession may be integrated with each other or may be provided withinseparate user interfaces using separate monitors centrally localized tocreate a control center for managing a manufacturing facility.

[0043] Through aggregating information for one or more sources, eitherinternal or external to a manufacturing facility, dynamic allocation ofresources within the manufacturing facility can be managed usingcentralized information system 301. For example, manufacturing facility306 may include a WIP profile for ASRS area 311 which includesinformation relating to products stored within ASRS 311 for filling anorder managed by order management source 303. As such, order managementsource 303 may determine when an order ship criteria has been fulfilledusing the WIP profile associated with ASRS 311 and release an order uponan inbound carrier being available. In this manner, centralizedinformation system 301 may provide a user interface for a user within asession such as session A 319 allowing a user to make decisions forallocating resources to ship products.

[0044] In another embodiment, one or more business units 302 may requestorders based on a WIP profile for one or more areas within first and/orsecond manufacturing facility 306, 318. For example, incoming parcel 312may include several products shipped from second manufacturing facility318 to first manufacturing facility 306. One of the business units 302may request additional products for an order and incoming parcel 312 mayreceive one or more of the requested products. As such, centralizedinformation system 301 may aggregate information relating to the requestand provide a user of system 301 WIP profile and scheduling informationfor filling the updated order. In this manner, resources for producing,scheduling, storing, transporting, etc. for a manufacturing facility maybe dynamically allocated to fill each order based on WIP profilesassociated with portions of the manufacturing facility.

[0045] In another embodiment, information system 301 may be used toidentify process errors occurring within a manufacturing facilityallowing a user of system 301 to re-allocate resources and expediteresolving issues for the problematic process. For example, a burn-inprocess may be causing errors for a particular product and not foranother product being manufactured. As such, the problematic process maybe identified by information system 301 and a user interface may beupdated to identify the problem in real-time. As such, a user of controlcenter 300 may re-route products and/or resources to another portion ofthe manufacturing facility to minimize the impact on production causedby the burn-in process.

[0046]FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for managingresources within a manufacturing facility. The method begins generallyat step 400. At step 401, the method accesses one or more databasesassociate with manufacturing products and translates 402 informationrepresentative of a real-time manufacturing environment into a userinterface 403 displayable within a monitor located within a controlcenter for the manufacturing facility. One or more user interfaces maybe displayed on one or more monitors within the control center and mayinclude a production and dock door scheduling user interface, a WIPprofile and resource allocation user interface, a process error andrecovery user interface, an equipment error identification and recoveryuser interface, a simulation user interface, or other user interfaceswhich may be centrally located with a control center.

[0047] Upon displaying a user interface, the method proceeds to providereal-time updates 404 for each user interface 405 through accessing oneor more networks operable to provide real-time updates to data logs ordatabases representing changes within the manufacturing environment. Forexample, a problem may occur with one or more products for an orderwhich was produced in a particular build cell of the manufacturingfacility. However, several other products for the same order may notencounter such quality issues. As such, the satifactory products may bepackaged and forwarded to ASRS and stored while the products withproblem(s) are held until the problem is resolved. Such a situation mayprovide a challenge for resources which have been allocated for fillingan order. For example, a particular LTL carrier may have been scheduledto ship the completed order to a destination. With a portion of theorder being held, the LTL carrier may not be able to meet the deadline.The method would determine if resources should be reallocated 407 andallow a user to access one or more areas having WIP profiles for similarproduct within the manufacturing facility and reallocate resources 408within the facility so that the LTL carrier will not have to wait andthe deadline will be met. The change in resource allocation may beupdated within an appropriate database 409 and the method would updatethe user interface 404 accordingly.

[0048] In another embodiment, an LTL carrier which may be incoming tothe manufacturing facility may have additional space for transportingproducts. As such, the control center may be able to access orders andresources 407 associated with products being manufactured within themanufacturing facility and pull product based on WIP to fill an orderfor the carrier thereby making efficient use of the additional spacewithin the particular carrier and resources and/or product within themanufacturing facility.

[0049]FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for allocatingresources using a remote monitor and simulator. The method beginsgenerally at step 500 and may be used by a product such as the systemillustrated in FIG. 3 or other systems operable to employ the method ofFIG. 5. Additionally, the method may be embodied within a program ofinstructions such as a computer readable medium or within other mediumssuch as encoded logic firmware, or hardware operable to employ themethod of FIG. 5.

[0050] At step 501 the method accesses one or more databases associatedwith a manufacturing facility and communicates the information 502 to acontrol center operable to display a control system 503 including aremote system monitor of resources within a manufacturing facility. Inone embodiment, the remote monitoring system includes a graphicalillustration of each piece of equipment within the manufacturingfacility and an associated status log for the equipment. For example,the user interface may display if a piece of equipment is fullyfunctional or if the equipment is inoperable. Other embodiments mayinclude determining the throughput for a piece of equipment and/ordetermining an item being processed by a piece of equipment. Forexample, one or more logs or databases may be maintained for the pieceof equipment thereby allowing the remote system to monitor activitiesassociated with each piece of equipment.

[0051] Upon updating a user interface using real time acquisition ofinformation 504 and updating a display 505 within the control center,the method proceeds to step 506 where the method detects a process orequipment error. If no errors are detected, the method proceeds to step504 and repeats. If an error is detected, the method updates the remotemonitoring system and alerts users 507 within the control center of theupdated status.

[0052] For example, a visual indication on a user interface may bedisplayed and may include sending a page to one or more individualsalerting them of the altered status for the equipment or process. Themethod then proceeds to step 508 where the method determines ifresources should be reallocated. If a simulation is not run, a user mayreallocate resources 516 within the manufacturing facility. If asimulation of resource allocation is selected, the method proceeds tostep 509 where information within selective areas of the manufacturingfacility are acquired. For example, the method may determineavailability of resources within another portion of the factory byaccessing a WIP profile for each area within the factory. The simulatormay then take the current volume scheduled for the inoperable section ofthe factory and schedule all or portions of the work load to one or moreareas within the factory. For example, a particular area may have thecapacity to output additional units prior to reaching full capacity. Assuch, the simulator may determine the available capacity for one or moreareas within the factory and simulate routing portions or all of theworkload to the available resources 510. The simulator may attemptseveral iterations 511 until an optimized re-allocation of resources isdetermined and display the results 512 within a user interface of thecontrol center. Upon determining an optimized model, a user within thecontrol center may accept or decline the simulation 513 and the methodproceeds to step 514 where the method updates and deploys the determinedscenario.

[0053] For example, if piece of equipment within one of the build cells207 a of FIG. 2 became inoperable and rendered build cell 207 ainoperable, the method may determine that a build cell within anotherportion of build facility 207 may be able to handle the workload. Assuch, the control center may re-route kits coming from one or morekitting facilitates using transport 206 until the problem with buildcell 207 a is resolved. In this manner, real-time access to resourceswithin the manufacturing facility may be accessed via a remotemonitoring system and a simulation may determine allocating availableresources within the manufacturing facility thereby allowing dynamicallocation of resources based on a current WIP profiles associated witheach area within the manufacturing facility.

[0054] Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram of a method for pullingproduct through a manufacturing facility based on capacity availabilityof a carrier and WIP profiles of the manufacturing facility is shown.The method begins generally at step 600. At step 601, a control centermay be used to determine capacity and/or orders for a carrier 601 thatmay be inbound or proximal to a manufacturing facility. For example, acarrier may include additional capacity to ship products to adestination. Upon determining a carrier, a percent completion for anorder for the carrier is determined 602 and resources for the orderincluding WIP profiles and order fulfillment of products are alsodetermined 603. The method then proceeds to step 604 where resources forthe shipment are allocated in order to fulfill a ship criteria and thecarrier is assigned to a dock door 605. The method then proceeds to step606 where completed products may be retrieved from an ASRS and joinedwith other products that may be pulled through the manufacturingfacility based on current levels of production within the manufacturingfacility. Each l. product may be merged with other products beingmanufactured and/or retrieved from other locations within the facilityand palletized if appropriate and routed to the assigned door for thecarrier 606. The method then proceeds to step 607 where one or moredatabase(s), logs, etc. may be updated to reflect the resources beingallocated to fill the order. The method then repeats at step 601.

[0055] Although the disclosed embodiments have been described in detail,it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from theirspirit and scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing facility employing dynamicallocation of resources for assembling and shipping products comprising:a centralized information system communicatively coupled with selectiveportions of the manufacturing facility, the system operable to aggregateinformation associated with manufacturing products; a work in processprofile associated with the selective portions of the facility andoperable to provide information in substantially real-time to thecentralized information system; and at least one user interfacedisplayed within a control center of the manufacturing facility andoperable to enable allocation of resources within the selective portionsof the manufacturing facility.
 2. The facility of claim 1 wherein theallocation of resources are based on a ship criteria associated with oneor more carriers used to transport a customer order including at leastone of the computer systems.
 3. The facility of claim 2 wherein theresource comprises a dock location associated with the manufacturingfacility for the one or more carriers, the dock location assigned basedon a percent complete level of the customer order.
 4. The facility ofclaim 1 further comprising a process monitor operable to monitor aprocess activity associated with one of the selective portions of themanufacturing facility.
 5. The facility of claim 4 wherein the processmonitor determines process errors for the selective portion of themanufacturing facility.
 6. The facility of claim 1 further comprising acarrier associated with a shipping criteria and operable to pull productfrom the manufacturing facility based on work in process profiles forselective portions within the manufacturing facility.
 7. The facility ofclaim 1 further comprising the control center operable to optimize themanufacture of product based on a delivery capability of a carrier and aship criteria.
 8. The facility of claim 1 further comprising the controlcenter operable to access an order request and allocate resources withinthe manufacturing facility to manufacture one or more systems based onthe order request.
 9. The facility of claim 8 further comprising thecontrol center operably associated with a carrier to process orderswithin the manufacturing facility and allocate a loading dock door forthe orders based on available resources within the manufacturingfacility to manufacture the order relative to an availability of theloading dock door.
 10. The facility of claim 1 further comprising thecontrol center operable to determine production and throughput for theselective portions of the manufacturing facility.
 11. The facility ofclaim 1 further comprising an automated storage and retrieval system(ASRS) associated with the control center and operable to retrieveproduct based on a ship criteria, the ship criteria including anavailability of a carrier.
 12. The facility of claim 1 furthercomprising the control center operable to reallocate resources based onavailable capacity for an incoming carrier.
 13. A system for providing acontrol center for a manufacturing facility comprising: a plurality ofinformation sources operably associated with manufacturing products fora customer order within the manufacturing facility; a user interfaceoperable to display selective information associated with portions ofthe manufacturing facility within a control center operable to manageproduction within the manufacturing facility; and a resource allocatoroperably coupled to the control center and the plurality of informationsources, the control center operable to monitor work in process withinthe manufacturing facility.
 14. The system of claim 13 furthercomprising a dock and scheduling user interface.
 15. The system of claim13 further comprising a WIP profile monitor and resource allocation userinterface.
 16. The system of claim 13 further comprising a process errorand identification user interface.
 17. The system of claim 13 furthercomprising an equipment error ID and recovery user interface.
 18. Thesystem of claim 13 further comprising at least one database operable toprovide real-time access to information associated with manufacturing acomputer system.
 19. The system of claim 13 wherein the system includesaccess to information associated one or more carriers, the informationincluding capacity of the carrier.
 20. The system of claim 13 furthercomprising a WIP profile monitor operable to determine WIP profiles fora plurality of areas within the manufacturing facility and allocateresources based on a ship criteria and carrier information associatedwith an order.
 21. The system of claim 20 further comprising identifyinga unavailable resource within the manufacturing facility and routingproduct to another portion of the manufacturing facility, the routingincluding determining available capacity within the manufacturingfacility.
 22. A method for controlling allocation of resources within abuild to order manufacturing facility comprising: determining a work inprocess (WIP) profile associated with one or more areas within themanufacturing facility; accessing one or more databases to provide anaggregated information source to be displayed on a user interface of acontrol center; determining available capacity based on shipping andscheduling information for the manufacturing facility; and identifyingan order release criteria limiting shipment of an order, the limitingcriteria associated with the WIP profile.
 23. The method of claim 22further comprising allocating resources to reduce the limiting criteriaof an order.
 24. The method of claim 23 further comprising: analyzingWIP profiles for an order associated with a carrier; determining acomplete percentage of the order; and assigning a carrier to a dockassociated with the manufacturing facility in response to determiningthe complete percentage.
 25. The method of claim 24 further comprising:determining a WIP profile for an order including a ship criteria;retrieving required product to fill an order from an automated storageand retrieval system (ASRS); processing the product for shipment; andtransporting the product to the determined dock for the carrier.
 26. Themethod of claim 22 further comprising detecting an error associated witha resource within the manufacturing facility; and re-allocatingresources based on the detected error and available resources within themanufacturing facility.
 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the detectingcomprises detecting an equipment error within the facility.
 28. Themethod of claim 26 wherein the detecting comprises detecting a processerror.
 29. The method of claim 26 further comprising: deploying asimulator to determine reallocation of resources; and optimizing there-allocation using the simulator.